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Chef Renata (Renee Gough)

Head Chef //

Posts: 214 // Recipes: 49

Meet Renee Gough; writer, food enthusiast and mother of three kids. 23 years ago, Renee met a young Welsh man named Peter in a bar in Chicago and moved with him to England 2 months later. They have been married over 20 years. Renee and Peter raised their three children, Sophie (20), Lucas (18) and Olivia (16) in England for over a decade. They moved back to Elmhurst, IL in 2005 to be closer to the family, old friends and the great city of Chicago.
Renee’s wildly popular column, ‘Mediocre Mom’ struck a chord with parents everywhere when it was first published in 2009. The truth of the matter is that there are no mediocre moms; only moms who feel mediocre sometimes! Stumbling through motherhood can bring you to your knees, make you laugh, make you cry and scratch your head wondering how it all went wrong. It is usually at this moment when a cute, fat, pink baby enters the grocery store and you pine for that sweet baby smell again.
Put your feet up, grab a cup of coffee and release the tension in your shoulders caused by teenage trauma, work stress and unexplained weight gain. Motherhood….nobody gets it right. But we will all die trying!
‘Renata’ is Renee’s Italian nickname given to her by her native Italian father. Growing up with an Italian immigrant father and a Polish/Italian-American mother ensured Renee was never far from a good meal. It also may have had something to do with Renee finding her own British immigrant husband who she has been married to for 23 years. Renee and her husband, Peter have three kids and live in Elmhurst, IL. It is here, inside Renata’s Kitchen, where Renee created ‘Renata’s Kitchen’. No matter what the conversation, somehow Renee steers the topic straight back to food. She opted to make a career out of this obsession and began writing weekly recipes, stories and interviews in 2011. Food; it’s always good news!
Renee also writes guest essays, feature stories, interviews and news stories.

I have always loved the taste of sausage, and I still eat it when I go back to our family restaurant occasionally. But at home I cook with plant-based sausages like this one from the Field Roast brand. more

Today's "Wonderful on Wednesday" story is devoted to the incomparable musical wonder of singer, song writer and guitarist Daniel Donato. I am not a musician, so I am dedicating a recipe to Daniel instead of a song. more